I get this question or comment (I don’t know how you do it) just about every time I tell someone new that I am a stay at home mom and I home school.

So after thinking long and hard I will give the honest answers. I WANT to do it so I make it happen. I know what my priorities are. I plan for what I can and make the chaos work. I humbly sacrifice a personal life outside of my family. I like spending time with my kids. I let go of the little things. I recognize that this is a small chapter in my life….and because it deserves repeating….I WANT to do it so I MAKE it happen!

This lifestyle is a choice. It’s a sacrifice, but it’s a choice that I happily make.

First let’s tackle work. I work inside my home. Some people may think I sit on my ass and read all day, but I work. I have an in home day care. 1 child is all day long, 1 child is half day, and a couple others are before and after school care. Luckily the littlest one that I watch is on a great routine schedule and that is a huge help! 

I also dabble in two direct sale companies….

Shameless plug: www.k4213.myubam.com is My Usborne Books & More website- I LOVE these book and use them in our homeschool. www.keepcollective.com/with/charitydaugherty is my KEEP Collective website. I do not plan this company to be long term, I really just want A LOT of jewelry and its cheaper (and hopefully will end up free) by signing up to sell. Uplines in both of these companies have made the comment that if I put myself out there more, if I assert myself a little more, if I book 1 in home or 1 book fair event I could really get this going. I know what my priorities are and these companies are pretty low on that list. I want to do them for the benefits that they get me personally because I really like the products. BUT do I want them to be long term jobs that I do in and out of the home….no. I don’t have time for that in my life right now. You want to host a facebook party….hit me up girlfriend because I can hook you up!

I am busy with work, especially the home day care aspect. It takes a lot of time to take care of and keep my house clean enough for watching, and after watching, extra kids. So why do it? The answer is simple….money. I hate that is the answer, but it’s true. I stopped babysitting for a while right after our 3^rd child was born and we started struggling. To maintain the lifestyle we do I need to bring in some income also. I do enjoy babysitting and my kids do too. They get to socialize daily, have a little play date every day after school, with the kids I watch. They get to help with the baby’s needs and they get to feel helpful too, so it really is a good thing.

Next is cleaning. I feel like I clean CONSTANTLY with nothing to show for it. When 3 kids are present 24/7 and a few other kids are present for several hours 5 days a week it’s pretty much like a constant tornado. There are no breaks. It is constant. It is crazy. It is frustrating. It makes me feel like I don’t have a clean house, but short of hiring help (which I can’t afford) I have no other option than to continue the cycle.

So how do I do it? Prioritize. What part of the house is most important to keep clean, which rooms can slide when things get tough, which areas can be delegated chores for kids, which areas drive me insane? Well the part of the house that is cleaned up constantly throughout the day is our main living area. That is where the baby crawls around; the toddler plays and eats things off the floor, and where everyone is the majority of the day. That area is played in and picked up a few times a day, vacuumed once a day, straightened a couple more times, dusted most often, and shampooed a few times a year. Next is the kitchen and bathroom. Laundry is in there too. Rooms like our classroom and bedrooms take a backseat because my daycare kids do not go in them and neither do any visitors we have to the house. PRIORITIZE. Clean what NEEDS to be done every day and do the rest when you can. We run our home school on a 6 weeks on 1 week off rotation schedule. My whole family knows on our week off it is go time for cleaning clutter areas! This past week was our week off and I rearranged, reorganized, and cleaned our class room out. Cleaned and reorganized my daughter’s room, cleaned all the little clutter piles that started showing up in the main area of the house and got all the laundry caught up and put away. Whew not much of a break if you think about it, but it was a break in our normal routine and it makes me FEEL good to tackle problem areas. My husband thinks I am weird, but it truly makes me FEEL BETTER when areas that have been building up and bugging me get cleaned up. I actually feel really great about doing that, and when momma feels good everyone is in a good mood!

Now School-- Lesson planning, worksheet printing, sitting down for one on one time in subjects that need special attention, planning, science and art projects, planning, organizing, cleaning, planning, reading, learning, planning, learning, planning, learning….sound like a broken record yet? Home school is also a constant. There are learning opportunities everywhere and my brain somehow seeks out those ideas all the time now.

So I have come to the conclusion that working in my home, cleaning, and homeschooling are constant busy things in my life soooo….now let’s tackle the social aspect. Hahaha.

 I’ve lost friends…or more precisely I have lost acquaintances and “social friends”—you k now those people who only hang out with you as long as you are doing fun stuff. Or only invite you to those parties so you can buy things. As I have crossed over into my 30’s (gasp) I have embraced the saying “quality friends are better than quantity.” Once in a blue moon I get to let my hair down and go out…it’s rare, but it can occasionally happen, usually for a wedding reception ;-) On those occasions I can chat people up and have a really good time with social friends. But on those days when my hair hasn’t been washed in….maybe 2 days, and I haven’t changed my clothes in 24 hours, and I can’t remember if I have drank anything since my cup of coffee I probably left in the microwave this morning because I know I haven’t peed in like 7 hours. On those days, when a friend texts just to ask how my day is going, those are the real friends. That friend also sent a text because she knows I can’t talk on the phone. She knows I haven’t checked snapchat in days. She knows I will forget to respond to a facebook message. She also knows that I may not text her back for hours because when I picked up my phone to check who sent the message my hands were too busy to text back. Socially I am a hermit, because my social life is at the bottom of my list of priorities. I know that makes me a shit friend, but this is only a chapter of my life. I will not be this busy with all these little kids for the rest of my life. My friend knows this and understands that keeping a small line of communication open with me during these rough times will guarantee a stronger relationship when this rough chapter is over.

Does laying all this out make me seem like a tattered ol’ house maid? Sometimes I feel like that! BUT I WANT TO DO IT, SO I MAKE IT HAPPEN!

So how do I do it?

 PRIORITIZE ….PRIORITIZE….. PRIORITIZE

Don’t worry about what other people think (harder to do than say), realize who you are doing this for, cherish the friends that have stuck around, and when you go to bed at night (if you don’t crash immediately) sink into a good book-everyone needs a brain break. Take advantage of a night out or date night if you are lucky enough to get one because everyone needs a little adult time.

Do the best you can. That is all any of us can do. I try every day to be my best and do my best. Learning as we Grow

(fun fact-it took me 3 days to write this because, ya know, who has time to keep up with a blog when every day looks like this)